At first, the idea of Russell Crowe playing Bill Hicks seems a really weird one. I mean, Russell's never done anything to offend me, and I really don't want him to come round and beat me up, but he's not really a clown, is he? He did one comedy film I think, A Good Year, but he didn't really pull the laughs out of the hat with that one.

Lee Mack has funny bones; Russell Crowe does not. With Russell there's too much testosterone, not enough femininity and, besides, he does that serious, middle-distance staring thing all the time.

But then that's sort of what Bill Hicks did, too. He wasn't screamingly funny. When he'd do physical comedy on stage it wouldn't really work - it was a bit awkward. He was a thinking man: an amazing comedy prophet. He was bleak, he was self-deleting, he was incredibly thoughtful but also depressive.

So maybe Russell Crowe is just right. You definitely want a proper actor to take on the part, not a comedian. You want someone with discipline, someone like Dustin Hoffman, who did a great job with Lenny Bruce.

It's a misnomer to say that comedians should play comedians - it wouldn't necessarily make things funnier. Like when you put five or six comedians on a panel show: it generally doesn't make it five or six times more funny. In all likelihood the film will be much more about what went on offstage anyway.

Still, if Russell did back out, and they wanted a comedian to play him, against my own advice I would volunteer my services. Sure, I've got a Lego haircut and I don't look like him, but I'd jump at the chance. Reginald D Hunter, too, if he weren't black he'd be great. When Reg says "I'm gonna tell you something," you sit up and listen, just like you would with Bill Hicks.

Of course they could also go down the I'm Not There route and have him played by a whole load of actors. That'd be great. And, like Cate Blanchett was, counter-intuitively, the best Bob Dylan, maybe a woman would be the best Bill Hicks. (And they could make a great point about post-feminism into the bargain!) Rhona Cameron would be perfect I think. She's got a Hicksian gait.

· For details on Russell's two shows, Gaping Flaws and Fakespeare: The Lamentable Tragedie of Yates's Wine Lodge visit www.myspace.com/russell_kane and www.whatareyoulaughingat.co.uk.